Love is in the hair!

Love is in the hair!

How much do you love, adore and nourish yourself and how does that spill over into how you nurture your Natural? And more importantly, how well can your Natural tell?

Is your hair dry, brittle, color damaged, or just plain flat? Or does it have a luster or shine that dances across each coil, kink and curl? Either way, today’s Love Natural can support you in showing some Love to yourself, starting with your crown.

I met this awe-inspiring sistar during a My Empowerment, My Way: The Goddess Series workshop in Brooklyn and have been walking beside her ever since, Oooh-ing and Aah-ing at just how amazing she is and how her hair reflects one aspect of her undeniable self-Love.

Introducing Love Natural, Andriana Styles! Andriana’s been doing hair since the age of twelve and turned her deepest desires to cultivate healthy hair into attractive styles into her life work five years ago when she graduated from hair school and began working at the Ah Spa in Yonkers, New York.

Andriana personally made the transition back to her natural hair when she decided to cut it nearly three years ago. Inspired by other Love Naturals such as Grace Jones and Diana Ross and thinking to herself,  “I really wasn’t embracing myself,” and “if I love myself, why can’t I love my natural hair”. With that thought, she was off and cut off all of her relaxed hair herself, and got a clean slate with some finishing touches with the help of a barber. Looking into the mirror, Andriana found herself pleasantly surprised and saying, “Wow, this is Me!”

“Me coming into me and being myself. Me becoming Andriana Styles. Me evolving and accepting myself and knowing that’s okay.” 

Till this day, Andriana styles her hair herself and refers to this particular look as a slice of  blonde color with a rat tail in the back. And she continues to bring other curious transitioners into their own Love Naturals style. 

I asked Andriana to share with us a natural hair care color tip, and here’s the scoop. “The shorter the hair, the lighter you can go. You don’t want to dry out the hair and make it brittle.” And if you still want a little help and inspiration, cruise on over to the Ah Spa. Known as the “transition spa”, it’s a hair spa where Andrianna says you can just “forget about everything else and have that moment for [yourself]”.

You can find Andriana Styles on Instagram or email her at andriana15@gmail.com and be the next “ah factor” to step out on to the scene. Tell her Happy Birthday while you're at it!!! And maybe my SLR and I will spot you and capture your beauty-full Love Natural self for our next edition of I Heart My Coil’s Napsodik photoblog.

Until then, and as always, 


Keep It Kinky,

Kymani Jade

I <3 My Coils

Sisters Sisterlocked

Black hair like black people is so diverse and versatile. No one kink, nap, or loc is the same. And our textures vary like fingerprints. This week, we're showcasing a dramatic difference in the way we can loc our natural hair, from the style we shared last week. This week, Napsodik's Love Natural is loc'ed and loaded with over 300 love locs carefully manicured into the amazing style you see before us.

I crossed paths with this Love Natural at an ABADA CAPOEIRA batizado (baptism) for a dear friend of mine, and sat down to speak with her for awhile. This sister's name is Diana Anderson and more than being a Love Natural, she is a dancer of modern/ contemporary dance with African influence and also practices yoga and capoeira, an afro-brazilian dance styled martial art-form. And during the day, Diana serves our community as a special education teacher.

Who says we can't fully enjoy embracing the fullness of ourselves and be happily employed in our natural hair?


Diana like many natural beauties, wears her hair in locs and opted for a type of loc style called sisterlocs. She had them first installed only five months ago. As you can see, sisterlocs are much smaller than traditional, freeform or organic locs. And they are more often than not "installed" by a certified sisterlock technician and not just any hairstylist or loctician.

Interestingly enough though, many do-it-yourselfers have taken the time to master the art of sisterlocking and some even dare to venture into sisterlocking their own hair. Oh the brave and proud few!


Now some of you may be wondering what exactly are sisterlocs and how to go about achieving this intricate and fascinating style. So let us begin with the origin of sisterlocks and how they first came about. 

Just as Madame C. J. Walker is to "relaxing" black hair and the straightening process, Dr. Joanne Cornell is to the black hair care system sisterlocs and how it relates to an appreciation of self.

According to the sisterloc's official website, Dr. Cornwell "is an Associate Professor of Africana Studies and French at San Diego State University. She is also a third generation  entrepreneur and beauty specialist. She has researched African descended cultures worldwide, and understands how deeply hair issues relate to cultural  identity. This understanding was the driving force behind her decision to found  her trademark company, Sisterlocks." And she has authored two books "designed both to provide information about Sisterlocks, and also to focus attention on the historical and cultural reasons why natural, African-type hair is such a thorny issue among African Americans."

For Dr. Cornwell, Diana and many Love Naturals, wearing our natural hair is much more than a fashion statement, it is about an attitude and a lifestyle. For more information on how to get this style or to speak with a certified sisterlock consultant please visit www.sisterlocks.com and search their registry (as shown below) to find the perfect person for you!

And as always, Keep It Natural, Know Yourself!

With Napsodik Love,

Kymani M. Jade

I <3 My Coils